i work at a fast food restaurant. first thing they teach you when you get into management is that during a robbery you completely cooperate with the robbery and give him whatever he wants or whatever he wants you to do. never look the robber in the eye or he will think you might remember your face and he will get nervous. if you pull a gun and it turns into a shoot out and the manager dies as well as you maybe killed also while the robber fleeds with a gun shot wound 2 good people dies because 1 person tried to be a hero.

hard to wrap your head around but they did make the right decision

Two things.

1: Study harder to get out of the fast food industry, although from the sentence structure and grammar, it appears you have found your niche.

2: You know why they tell people not to attempt to stop a robbery? Lawsuits. They don't want to get sued if you injure the robber, or the civil suit from his family from killing him.

Autozone acted both wrong and right. They have the opportunity to change the way people view their stores, and dropped the ball. They followed their policy, but in the end they lost an employee and the money, and a little respect.